A Critique of Israeli Secularism

In this article the author claims that Israeli secularism has failed to produce a positive definition of Jewish identity. He presents the reasons he views as responsible, and the ways secular Judaism has manipulated Jewish tradition for its political purposes. According to the author, the main wrong was creating a concept of nation detached from Jewish religion. Not all secular thinkers did so, and Ahad Ha'am is brought as an example of one who preserved traditional Jewish concepts in his definition of a Jewish nation. This article is the last of four contributions brought together under the title: "Shades of 'Jewishness'".